Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-06-21
A DISAPPOINTED BRIDE.
The Sad Story of q Young California
Speculator.

Speculator.
GLENyIEw, PA, June 2O.-On Monday
last Walter Wade, q bold, dashing stock
and provision speculatOr, came from Cali
fornia to fulfill a promise OF marriage with
Miss Fanny Eckert, which was to take
place at noon on Thursday.
ThemOst elaborate preparations had been
made, and the relatives and friends of the
young lady waited with every emOtiO" OF
pleasure for the happy event, but waited
in vain.
Wade's recent i'll luck in the speculative
field drove him to despair, and, rather than
face the disappointment which would in
eyitably follow, he attempted suicide on
Wednesday and now lies hOpelessly insane
at the home of his parents, some distance
from this place.
Walter is the only son of ]. Werner
Wade, who soon after his marriage fell
heir to a large fortune. After the yeung
man had completed his collegiate studies
and graduated with high hOnors, he decided
to take trip TO California before settling
down, and so informed his parents. They
entreated him to remain Mt home, but all
to no purpose. Appealing TO his father he
said: Loan me one thousand dollars, and
l will return it with interest" His father
Immediately filed out a check for the
amount and handed it to him.
The next day after spending an hour
with his intended bride Wade started for
California in pursuit of fame and fortune.
Four years afterward his family and friends
were surprised to see him arrive home. He
entered his fathers house as though his
absence had been but TOR a day, drew up
chair to where his father sat, and taking
from a we'll filled pOcketbOok 81, ,24O he
handed the money TO his father, saying,
Here is the borrowed money with six per
cent interest"
This was all so rapidly done that Mr..
Wade had hardly time to realize who ii
was and what it meant. As he related to
his parents, he had met with phenomenal
success, and by shrewd and conservative
speculation had amaSsed over one million
dollars After few days stay, during
which time he renewed his pledges of love
to Miss Eckert, VINO in the four yearB'
OF waiting never doubted his sincerity, he
departed again. Letter after letter was
received by her, in which he bOasted of his
continued success, and said that he was
now periecting arrangements to come
home to remain. The wedding was there
fore fixed for June 10. But his character
was too weak to resist the social tempta-
tionS that now beset him.
An irresistible fOndneSs for wine and
champagne suppers took possession of
Wade, which WAS soon followed by every
form of wild and reckless dissipation.
Then luck turned against him, and he be-
gan TO lose money until his fortune was
nearly all swept away. Depressed in spir
its, the dashing speculator returned home.
His general appearance was detected, hut
by the aid of a stImulant he managed to
assume his old-time spirits. In this way
the suspicion that might otherwise have
been excited was overcome.
On Wednesday afternoon Wade re-
marked to his father that he desired to
write some business letters and for that
purpose he retired to his room, giving in
structiOns that his privacy be not iutru,
ded upon. Everything in the way OF pre-
paratiOn for the wedding next day had
reached point of completeness, and at ;
p. IN. a.friend of the groom called to see
him. AS the matter was urgent, his
father went up stairs and called him. He
repeated the call and, receiving no res
pOnse, forced the door open. To his hOr-
ror, he beheld his son suspended from
halter strap, with the other end knotted
around the top of the bed post, almost
dead from strangulatiOn. He quickly cut
the strap, and placed the body on the bed,
and then quietly but quickly summoned a
physician. The doctor said that another
minute would have produced death, and
that, while he might possibly survive, he
would be hOpelessly insane.
The business letters which he was sup
and his parents. They told of his dissipa-
tion and his losses at gambling and of his
complete ruin. He says in his letter to the
young lady.
For many months had a constant run
of i'll luck. The ardor of gambling, un-
like every other passion, is rather increas-
ed than diminished by loss and disappoint-
ment. Without being warned, therefore,
by i'll success, still wentOn until the very
last dollar of my money was gone. / then
began to draw gradually on the $4,000
you placed in my hands for safe keeping
until the day of our marriage, in small
amounts. Following the bent Of my evil
genius, sum after sum was taken, and
alike buried in that aCcurSed vortex which
had already swallowed up 80 much from
me-"
To his father he says:
Eighteen months ago | attached my
name to paper, the prospectus OF which
was a profitable land scheme. 1t origiBa-
ted with sharpers and l was victimized
Periodical sprees We're INDUCED in, and,
with a hope of retrieving some of my
losses, / came east for a change. was q
persist mt bull on the stock market and
lost heavily last December. l thereafter
invested heavily in pork and wheat, and
was completely swamped" "
Immediately after the occurrence the
house was closed, and Miss Eckert and
few faieuds were quietly notified. Miss
Eckert was completely Frustrated. For a
few hours yesterday she sat by the bedside
of her lover and listened to his rawlings
over the stock and provision market.
Wade is 81 years old.
Interesting Cricket.
T,,na n,a oc Az ,,,o..